Given name & surname
Jerome
“of the sacred name”
Jerome is used as a given name and a surname. One Greek interpretation is “of the sacred name.”
Original GreekΙερώνυμος
Meaning & origin
What it means
One Greek interpretation is “of the sacred name.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Greek.
How it developed
In English usage, Jerome developed from the Ancient Greek form Ἱερώνυμος.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1880. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Jerome through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 162,296
- 161,234 boys · 1,062 girls
- Most popular year
- 1954
- 3,129 babies
- 2025
- 158
- #1,257 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −30%
- Easing
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 158 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 1,257 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 30.2% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for boys was 3,113 in 1954. In 2025, California had the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (13). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 92,865 as a first name in 2020; 9,086 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Jerome’s family of names
In English usage, Jerome has a diminutive in Jerry. Jerome shares a linguistic root with Geronimo. Jerome has a related form in Jeronimo.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Jerome has relatives in 16 languages. Lines run from its Ancient Greek roots to each of them.
Ancient Greekwhere Jerome comes from · 1 name
Nicknames & forms 10
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
- Jerrydiminutive · English
- Jeronimovariant
- Jerolynvariant
- Jeromvariant
- Jerromevariant
- Jeroenvariant · Dutch
- Jerommelikely variant
- Jerolinvariant
Show 2 moreShow fewer
Spellings & scripts 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 21
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Jerome
- J. D. SalingerAmerican author (1919–2010)
- Jerome K. JeromeEnglish humorist (1859-1927)
- Jerome Isaac FriedmanAmerican physicistborn 1930
- Jerry SeinfeldAmerican comedian and actorborn 1954
- Jerome KarleAmerican physical chemist (1918–2013)
- Jerry BruckheimerAmerican film and television producer (born 1943)
- Jerome RobbinsAmerican choreographer and director (1918–1998)
- Jerome BrunerAmerican psychologist and scholar1915–2016
- Jerome PowellAmerican financier (born 1953)
Characters named Jerome: Jerome and Jeremiah Valeska (Precursor to the Joker in the television series "Gotham").
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Appears in
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